Work Text:
Chicago December 20th 2022 Herrmann Residence.
Cindy was in the kitchen and she was going over the plans for Christmas and who was coming and she saw Lee Henry come into the kitchen and he was not in a good mood.
“Lee Henry, do not walk away from me when I'm talking to you” Herrmann says coming into the kitchen himself.
“You're not talking to me, you're yelling at me there's a difference” Lee Henry says.
“Adjust your tone, mister,” Cindy says.
“Why should I?” Lee Henry asks.
“Because you show us respect in this house,” Herrmann says.
“Respect, how about showing my big brother some respect and not standing by the guy who broke his heart and forced him to leave Chicago” Lee Henry says and he walks away.
Cindy looks at her son and she knows he is right and she herself has kept her distance from the firehouse and whenever she would see Kelly she would be polite but that's all.
“That kid needs to sort his attitude out as I will not have him disrespect Severide like that” Herrmann says.
“No Christopher he is right. How can you stand there and talk about our son disrespecting Severide when you yourself are disrespecting Matt by acting like nothing has happened over the last 6 months so for once I'm allowing Lee Henry to speak to you in that tone of voice” Cindy says and she walks away.
Herrmann sits at the table and he knows that he shouldn't be as friendly with Severide but in the job they do he needs to trust the person he works with but he also should be sticking by his oldest son.
After a few minutes Herrmann gets up and goes to work and once he gets to the firehouse he goes inside and gets changed and heads to his office.
“Hey Herrmann, I need to know what time your family is coming to the Christmas Dinner at the firehouse?” Boden asks, walking into the man's office.
Herrmann looks at his friend and he has made a decision.
“Actually Chief,me and the family are spending Christmas with each other,” Herrmann says.
Boden looks at his friend and he knows that they always come to the firehouse for Christmas as everyone puts on a show and then certain people make Christmas dinner.
“Herrmann, are you ok?” Boden asks.
“Yeah I'm good Chief, me and Cindy have just decided to make this Christmas about us and we need to take a step back from social events with the crew” Herrmann says.
“OK Christopher just as long as you know that I'm here for you and Cindy” Boden says.
“Thanks Wallace," Christopher says.
Boden leaves and goes into the lounge and puts up the list of people who is coming.
Kelly and Kidd look at the list and they don't see Herrmann's name on it nor the rest of the families names and they both look at each other.
“How come Herrmann's not coming?” Violet says.
“Hermann and Cindy are spending Christmas together and Hermann is allowed to spend that day with his family since it's his day off,” Boden says.
Boden looks directly at Severide and he makes sure the man understands that it's his fault that the firehouse is not the same anymore.
“Don't worry I'll talk to Herrmann and he and Cindy will be coming” Stella says.
“Actually Stella we won't be coming as we want to spend as much time with the rest of the kids and we did promise them that we can do Christmas at home and they are so excited” Herrmann says.
Everyone turns around and those who can read between the lines knows its code for we don't want to spend time with Kelly Severide after him hurting Matt.
“Herrmann come one you always do Christmas dinner at the firehouse and you always bring the alcohol and Cindy,Me,Brett and Donna are always cooking the food it's always been that way” Stella says.
“Well things change and I am allowing my family to have a Christmas at home when I'm off so it's what we are doing” Herrmann says.
“Well any chance you guys may stop by or we could drop in to yours” Kelly says.
“Actually we are going to be busy that day so I would rather you didn't” Herrmann says.
Kelly looks at Herrmann and he gets the what the man's saying and that's he doesn't want to speak to him about his personal life and it's now a professional relationship they have.
“Well I hope you guys have a great Christmas anyway” Brett says and she hugs Herrmann and whispers that she will text Cindy later.
The rest of the crew do the same and they all promise to text him later or text Cindy.
It took awhile for everyone to get used to Matt being gone and they all kept thinking he will be back but when Herrmann had came back from his two week vacation he told them all Matt was happy and he was doing amazing and he had made a life for himself in Portland and they knew their friend wasn't coming back.
Matt had messaged people and told them he was sorry for leaving the way he did but he needed to leave that way and they all forgave him.
Kelly was still acting like he hadn't broken Matt's heart and when Stella found out she couldn't believe that Matt had left while they were on their honeymoon and she was angry but a part of her knew why he left and she hoped he was happy where he was.
Herrmann grabs some coffee and as he is walking out the lounge he passes Donna who has come to talk to Boden about Christmas.
Back at Cindy and Hermann's house Cindy is looking at Matt's number and she decides to take the plunge and phones him.
“Hello” Matt says on the other end.
“Hey sweetheart how's things going?” Cindy asks.
“Hey mum, things are going OK” Matt says.
“That's good so the reason I'm calling is because I haven't heard back from you about coming back home for Christmas” Cindy says.
“Oh yeah sorry I meant to phone you but work got in the way” Matt says.
“That's understandable. So can you and my grandsons make it?” Cindy asks.
“I'm sorry but me and the boys are going to stay here for Christmas as we don't want to see anyone from 51 as I know that you and the rest of the family will be heading to the firehouse” Matt says.
“Actually your dad has that day off and he has promised that we can spend Christmas at home” Cindy says.
“Oh give me a moment and I'll check with Ben and Griffin” Matt says.
“Boys come into the kitchen please” Matt shouts and Cindy can hear some grumbling and she laughs at that.
“What is it? Me and Ben had just started a brand new episode of New Tricks” Griffin says.
My mum is on the phone and it turns out that my dad has promised that they can have Christmas at home so do you guys want to go back to Chicago for the Christmas break?” Matt asks.
Cindy hears silence and she knows that the three of them are discussing it so she waits for the decision.
“Sorry I had to put you on hold and we have spoken about it” Matt says.
“That's fine,” Cindy says.
“So the decision is we are coming home for the Christmas break” Matt says.
“Honey that's amazing and I'm so excited for you all to come home and I know Lee Henry will be thrilled also” Cindy says.
“I better go as there is packing to do so I'll phone you when we are at the airport and then when we land in Chicago and we will get a cab” Matt says.
“Your father will pick you up as he finishes work at 5 pm tonight” Cindy says and she tells Matt that she loves him and they both hang up.
Cindy texts her husband to let him know that Matt and the Darden boys are coming home for the holidays and when he finishes work he needs to go and pick them up from the airport.
Herrmann is back in his office and he is going through some paperwork when his phones goes off and he checks it and sees it's a text from his wife telling him that Matt and the Darden boys are coming home for the holidays and Hermann is expected to pick them up after he finishes work.
Herrmann messages back saying he will pick them up and he has decided to keep his distance from Severide and can Cindy tell Lee Henry that he is going to stand by Matt.
The rest of the day went by really slowly for 51 and not that many calls came in and when it was time for Herrmann to leave he said goodbye to everyone and told them to enjoy their Christmas.
Herrmann gets into his car and he goes straight to the airport to meet his son and grandsons.
Herrmann pulls up at the airport and Matt and the Darden boys are waiting for them and they have 5 bags with them.
“You guys do know it's only 2 weeks your staying for?” Herrmann asks.
“2 of these bags have presents in them for everyone” Matt says.
Herrmann helps Matt put the stuff into the boot and once everyone is in the car they all drive away.
Cindy makes sure she has all of Matt's,Ben's and Griffin's favourite food in and she has made sure to book somewhere nice for the family to eat at.
Herrmann pulls up at the house and everyone gets out and they grab the bags and head inside and when Cindy sees her oldest she goes over to him and hugs him.
“Welcome Home” Cindy says.
Christmas day arrived at the Herrmann household and everyone woke up to excited screams and all the adults went downstairs to see who had screamed.
When Matt opened the door he found some presents that had all their names on and Matt looked around and he spotted Brett getting into her car and he knew she was the mastermind behind this and Matt smiled and told his sister to help him with the presents and after they had picked up the 4 bags worth Matt closed the door and he heads into the living room where the rest of the family is and Matt puts the 2 bags he is carrying down in front of the tree and Annabelle puts the other two bags down and everyone looks at Matt and then to the bags and then back to Matt and he mouths Brett and everyone understands what that means.